This post is dedicated to Ms Charlotte of
The Galloping Gardener for being the 1st commenter of my previous post Wordless Wednesday - Hydrangea.
Today my post is about the miniatures that I see around my garden. Although very very tiny, they are actually very beautiful.
I often see a lot of small little butterflies going after pretty little flowers in my garden. I also see them hovering around wild flowers at the park and roadside. They look very plain and unattractive and I hardly pay any notice. After taking macro shots of these little things, to my surprise, I found that they are really very beautiful and colourful too. Look at this purple butterfly. It is less than 2 cm in diameter and I caught it hovering aournd my portulaca flowers, flying to and fro from flower to flower. Isn't it gorgeous?
Small butterflies like small flowers like this yellow moss rose I photographed in the morning. The water on the petal looks like a dew drop.
This is my bicolour moss rose with yellow petals and red centre. It was grown from a stem cutting given by the nursery owner.
This my white Cuphea hyssopifolia. The flowers are very tiny but numerous. These flowers are so tiny, I think you have to strain your eyes to look at it. It blooms for a long long time. After it is finished with the blooming, the whole plant looks scraggy, so I need to prun it to removed the dead or brown stems and leaves.
I planted the white and purple cuphea mixed together in the same pot to get the bi-colour effect. I also planted some near my red plam tree.
I caught this colourful bug resting under the shadow of my pomelo leaf. A fly, maybe? Hope someone can tell me its name.
Ah yes, this is the purple waffle plant. I didn't plant it in my garden. It just came to stay with me. At first, I thought the purple flowers were pretty and cute. Now, it has invaded my garden! Everywhere I see this plant, taking every available space. They grow in the flower pots and fight for space and nutrients with my other beloved plants. They grow from the bottom of my pots, in between the grass on my lawn, at wall crevices, corners and even in the drain! They can grown in the hottest place, in the shade and even in dark areas. I can't seem to get rid of the wild ones. Everytime, I pull out one, two grow back. Just like, whenever I pull out a grey hair, 2 grey hairs grow back! I am loosing hair over this alien invasion.
This is the Mimosa pudica aka touch-me-not. In local malay language, we call it the semalu, meaning shy. They seem to love sticking around with the grasses. I think the ball shaped flowers are pretty. When I was little, I love to touch and watch the leaves close one by one. I thought it was quite magical. However, I didn't like their torns, especially when I am playing bare footed during school's PE (physical education) period. No, no. I didn't grow this on my lawn. I photographed in outside my house.
I also photographed this wildflower (or weed?) because I like the pretty peach flower and leaves that are shaped like the mimosa's.
I found this wild passion flower plant growing near an open space by the road side. Perhaps it is our Asian wild passion flower. It was growing well, its tendrils twisting and twirling up a telephone pole, behaving just like our wild morning glory weeds. The hairy fruits are very small and looked like green berries. The small flowers (2cm in diameter) look very similar to the passion flower and has a slight fragrance too. I took a stem cutting and trying to grow in at home. But I worry that it will behave like the purple waffle plant or the morning glory. Everyday I am debating whether to pull it out or let it grow.
I wonder if this is Passiflora dissemma?
This Andrographis paniculata plant is a native plant (herb) found throughout South East Asia. Its common name is 'king of bitters'. The malay name is hempedu bumi (Earth's gall) or pokok cerita (story tree). The picture above shows the flower which is very tiny.
This herb is being used in traditional medicine and for detoxification. The chinese use the leaves to treat shingles. In chinese shingles is called "having snake". So, the plant's common name is 'snake medicine' in chinese. Some people just eat the leaves raw which is very bitter. Those who cannot stand the bitterness, will eat it in capsule form where the leaves are dried and grounded to powder. These capsules are available in Chinese medicine shops. There are many articles written about it's medicinal properties but I am no expert on this matter. Therefore, please do not practise self medication based on what I have written!
This is my entry for Blooming Friday, 1st Week of November. The theme today is 'Blooms out of Season". My grateful thanks to Katarina at Roses and Stuff for hosting Blooming Friday. To see what others have posted or to participate, click here.This is also my entry for Fertilizer Friday. My grateful thanks to Tootsie at Tootsie Time for hosting Fertilizer Friday. To see what others have posted or to participate, visit here.
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